Iverson Knows He Could Be Traded Next

Shapecity · Sep 28, 2008

Since the Nuggets went into a cost-cutting mode during the summer and traded Marcus Camby to the Clippers for next to nothing, many have wondered: Could Allen Iverson be the next big-dollar player to go?

Including Iverson.

"It's a possibility," Iverson said in an interview Wednesday with the Rocky after working out Wednesday with teammates at the Pepsi Center. "We'll just see what happens. I wouldn't be upset either way because it's a business. . . . The one thing about a trade is when somebody trades for you, they want you. That's what you want as an athlete."

With Iverson, the Nuggets' highest-paid player at $20.84 million, entering the final year of his contract, many believe he could be dealt by the February trading deadline because the Nuggets wouldn't want to risk losing him for nothing when he becomes a free agent in July. He could be very attractive to a team seeking salary-cap room in 2009.

While Iverson said his "first choice" remains to stay with the Nuggets and "sign back" with them in the summer, he said "that situation" with Camby has made him believe he could be dealt. He also has talked with his representatives.

"My agent (Leon Rose) and my manager (Gary Moore), they let me know (being traded is) a possibility," Iverson said. "But that's not something that I concern myself with. I go out and play as hard as I can and whatever happens, happens."

Nuggets executive Mark Warkentien declined comment. Nuggets coach George Karl was asked about the possibility of Iverson being dealt by the trading deadline.

"I don't think that's on the table, but you never know what the league will deliver you," Karl said. "You never know what packages will come your way."

As for Iverson being back with Denver in 2009-10, Karl quipped, "I don't think any of us might be here (if the Nuggets don't have playoff success after five straight first-round exits)."

Iverson during the summer was willing to opt out of the final season of his contract and sign a multiyear deal with the Nuggets. His camp even presented the option of Iverson playing for less money this season, but the Nuggets never came back with an offer.

"I was kind of bothered by it," Iverson said. "Being the fact that, from the time that I got here (in December 2006), I gave them everything I had. Obviously, I did some good things. . . . I thought they would at least make an offer for me to turn down. I thought they'd at least offer me a dollar or something.

"But there aren't no hard feelings. I feel like there are good people around here. They have their reasons for why they didn't do anything, just like they got their reasons for what they did with Marcus."

Iverson said he's "set for life" and "obviously . . . would consider" taking a pay cut next season.

"It's a good feeling because this will be the first time that I'll be a free agent," the 33-year-old, 12-year veteran said. "It's something different in my career. . . . Next summer, it's going to be a fun time for me because I get to weigh my options and go wherever I want to go."

While Iverson's preference is to be with the Nuggets in 2009-10, the Camby trade has created more uncertainty.

"It was kind of a shock," Iverson said of the deal in which Camby was sent to the Clippers for the right to swap second-round picks in 2010 and a $10 million trade exception. "I didn't expect it. . . . We didn't get any players, right? That was probably the strangest part of it all. . . . Like everybody else, you sit around and wonder like, 'Why did it happen and how could something like that happen.' But, like I said, it's a business."

Iverson will see if the business of basketball results in his having a new address come February.

"If I go somewhere else, it's going to be 20,000 more people that's going to watch me play as hard as I can, night in, night out," he said.
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Source: Rocky Mountain News

Answer_AI03 · Sep 28, 2008

Hmm i wonder where he could even get traded to. Either way hes a FA at the end of this season, and will hopefully take a pay cut to get a ring.

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Iverson Knows He Could Be Traded Next

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